


Real

by galaxystiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Inception, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kissing, Limbo, M/M, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 23:37:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4118815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxystiel/pseuds/galaxystiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inception AU. Castiel has lived a solitary life for twenty years, with the exception of a green eyed man that keeps telling him this isn't real. That he needs to wake up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Real

There was nobody around except for the dark haired man walking through the garden.

It should have been strange. It should have triggered alarm bells, but it didn’t. Castiel was peaceful, comfortable, enjoying the sensations of the soft grass beneath his feet, tickling his toes. He’d seen this place before, although he couldn’t quite remember that. His grasp on things was starting to fade away.

Castiel was older now. There was grey touching the edges of his hair, a slight salt and pepper look to his stubble. The crinkles at the corners of his eyes had deepened, as if time had taken its toll. But that was the thing about time here. It ticked slowly, ever so slowly.

He came to a halt, turning his eyes up towards the sun and enjoying the warmth of its rays. He stood there for a few minutes, just soaking up the light and appreciating the serenity of the moment. No sounds. Just the light breeze as it rustled the leaves on the trees.

“Cas?”

It took him a few seconds to open his eyes, his brow furrowing at the familiar voice. Turning, Castiel fixed his gaze on the owner of the voice.

The green eyed man had been coming to see him every few days for as long as he could remember. He never aged, never changed, but the despair in his eyes grew more pronounced with each visit.

“Dean,” he greeted, a resigned sigh leaving his lips. “Still haven’t given up?”

Dean bit his lip to stop a telltale quiver, but Castiel knew it was there. “On you? Nah. In all the time we’ve known each other, you’ve never given up on me once, Cas.”

He’d said those words before, but their usual determination was gone. In fact, there was something in his voice, in his expression that was far more distraught than usual. Castiel didn’t understand what had changed, but he knew something had. He didn’t need to push for an answer though. Dean told him everything, he always did.

“Guess you’re finally going to get rid of me, Cas. I won’t be able to come back any more. See… everyone thinks you’ve gone, that you’re not gonna wake up. And if you ever do, that you won’t be _you_. I could live with that… except I couldn’t. Not really,” Dean admitted, brokenly.  “So they’re taking the choice out of my hands. Sammy is gonna take the PASIV device so I stop coming to see you. Says that the Somnacin solution was never tested enough to be used this frequently.”

Somnacin. PASIV. They were words Castiel recognized, but he couldn’t remember why. He dismissed them, something pulling him back from thinking too hard about Dean’s words.

“I don’t need to wake up because I’m not asleep, Dean.”

Dean took a few steps forward and grabbed Castiel by the front his shirt. “Damnit, Cas, we don’t have any more time for you to be in denial. I know you know me. I know you remember us, our lives together, how you felt about me. How I still feel about you.”

Castiel opened his mouth to speak, but Dean cut him off once again.

“Let me bottom line it for you. I’m not leaving here without you,” he said quietly. “So if you’re gonna stay here and let your mind rot then so am I. Cas… please. Help me out here. Wherever you’ve hidden your totem, please, just find it. All I’m asking is that you look just once, and then we can both wake up together.”

For the first time since the first day they’d met, or at least met here, Castiel got angry and he shoved Dean to the floor. “This is real, why won’t you listen to me? I’m not asleep, this is reality. I’m happy here, why can’t you leave me alone?”

As quickly as it came, his anger deflated, and he reached out a hand to help Dean back to his feet. He didn’t say anything else because he didn’t know what to say. This was real. He’d been here so long that it couldn’t be anything else. He’d had the same routine every day for twenty years, to think that was anything other than real would be enough to tip him over the edge.

“This is real,” he repeated eventually. “And there’s nothing for you here now, Dean.”

He watched a lone tear slide down Dean’s cheek and the green eyed man made absolutely no attempt to hide the broken expression on his face.

Castiel watched him step forward, his hand outstretched, and allowed him to take his own, threading their fingers together. It should have felt wrong, a complete stranger touching his hand, someone who was crazy enough to doubt reality. Why did it feel right? Why did it feel like instinct to turn his eyes up to meet Dean’s with a wide smile on his face?

“There’s my Cas,” he whispered, leaning in and pressing his lips to his forehead, once, twice, before brushing their lips together in the lightest touch Castiel had ever known.

Why were tears welling up in his eyes? Why did saying goodbye to this man make him feel like a gaping hole was tearing through his body? He pulled back and forced himself to look away from Dean, looking around the park and noticing it was empty for the first time. Why wasn’t there anyone here?

“When you’re ready…” Dean spoke, before swallowing and shaking his head. “I mean, I can’t come back. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on you. If you ever find yourself… I’ll be right there by your side when you wake up. I’m never leaving you, Cas.”

He stepped back, producing a gun from his pocket. A long thin barrel. A Colt, if Castiel wasn’t mistaken. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he did. His breath hitched as Dean pressed the barrel to the underside of his own chin.

“What are you doing?” He asked shakily, eyes widening in horror.

Dean gave him a sad smile. “Waking up.”

The sound of the gunshot made Castiel flinch and sob, and he took a few steps forward as Dean’s body crumpled. But by the time it should have hit the floor, there was no body. No sign of him. He was just… gone.

The emptiness was consuming. His heart was pounding and his blood was rushing, a roaring sound in his head. Dean. Dean. Dean.

All this time, he’d kept the knowledge buried, hidden under lock and key so that he didn’t have to focus on being trapped here. But now he had doubts, saying goodbye to someone he knew to his very core that he loved and needed to get back to. Dean wasn’t coming back. Therefore Castiel needed to go to him.

He began running through the park, navigating it as only he knew how. He’d hidden his totem here a long time ago, unable to look at it. Locked it away so that he was never tempted to look at it again. He found the hive of bees instantly, and walked up to it with shaking hands. There were no bees here, but the hive still stood there, tall, firm, functioning. His fingers slipped inside, scrabbling around until they met plastic. Castiel pulled out a small, plastic bee keyring, one he’d been given a long time ago, although right now he couldn’t remember who from.

He’d written a single word on the underside. That word echoed now in the back of his mind and he knew once he turned it over, if that word was wrong, then he was dreaming. His lips quivered, his fingers still trembling as he turned over the totem.

A gasp of pain parted his lips. The word should have been _angel_ , but that wasn’t what he was staring at. The word scrawled on the back of the plastic was _Dean_ , and Castiel’s heart ached with realisation.

“This isn’t real,” he whispered, letting out a sob. Dean. He needed to go back to Dean.

Looking around, Castiel found a jagged tree branch and held it firmly in his hands. He took a deep breath and without hesitation, plunged it into his chest. His eyes fluttered closed for a brief moment, before they snapped open.

Green. It hadn’t worked. He was dying and he was still in the park. That bright, beautiful colour could only be the trees overhead. How could he not be awake? His totem had told him this wasn’t real.

He blinked. The blur of green became eyes, warm and loving. Castiel blinked again and found Dean smiling down at him in relief, tears in his eyes.

“Welcome back, Cas.”

A hand touched his, linking their fingers together just as they had earlier, and Castiel understood now, felt the difference between limbo and _here_. Limbo, the touch had been distantly familiar, strangely absent. This was something else. Just like Dean’s eyes, his touch was welcome, craved.

**Author's Note:**

> [MY TUMBLR](http://blueeyedangel.co.vu)


End file.
